I’m Back

I can’t believe how fast the week flew by!  We had a wonderful time and the weather was absolutely beautiful. 

The boys loved the beach. 

 

Even the “big boys” had fun.

We weren’t sure how the youngest grandson would like the beach but he turned out to be our little beach baby….he loved it!   

 

 

He kept PaPa busy. 

Why is it that it seems like every time you go away something always happens at home?  We came home to ants in the house,  moles tearing up our yard,  lost part of a shingle on the roof, our less than a year old wide screen TV in our bedroom stopped working, the pool pump stopped working which caused the pool water to turn green and to top it all off,  blogger decided to delete my background page.  

With all of that being said, we’ve taken care of the ants, the pool pump is working and the water is crystal clear, we’ve contacted a roofer and I’ve been  working on my blog.   I keep telling myself,  we are home and there is no place like home. 

Gail

Toes in the Water

We’re headed to the beach for a whole week!    Our son, his wife and our three grandsons will be with us for the entire week.  Other family members will be joining us throughout the week.

Know that I will have my toes in the water………

a$$ in the sand and not a worry in the world with a cold beverage in my hand……..

Life will be good this week!

Gail

A Baby’s Journal

We have a new addition to our family.  I would like you all to meet Jaiden. 

 

Amber, my niece,  gave birth to Jaiden on July 6, 2010.  He weighed 7 lb. 1 oz. and was 21 inches long. 

I made a little gift for him and I wanted to share it with all of you.   It’s a Journal Book for “Mommy” to record  “Special Moments” during his first 12 months. 

Below is a picture of  the front of the Journal Book.  The space to the left is  blank so that  “Mommy” can insert a picture of Jaiden.  I used my Cricut to cut the crown and letters for his name.     

One Month Old….I left room so pictures could be added.

Two Months Old….I made a pocket so keepsakes could be placed inside. 

In October he will be three months old.   I tried to coordinate the months with certain colors.  I love the orange and blue!

Four Months Old

Five Months Old…..Christmas Time….Oh what fun that will be. 

Six Months Old…..I love this page.

February he will be seven months old…..I love the heart on this page.

Eight Months Old

Nine Months Old…..Easter

Ten Months Old

Eleven Months Old

One Year Old and then everyone will be saying….”where has the time gone”!

I even made a gift bag. 

I really love making homemade gifts.   I have another niece who has a daughter that will be starting kindergarten this fall and to think my twin grandsons will be starting pre-school as well this fall….Oh My, I  know what I’ll be making…….more journal books!  

Gail

I’m All Done With The Porch

After staining the concrete floor of my screened-in porch to look like faux tile, I’ve been working hard to put it back together.  Now I’m finally done! 

Take a look at what I’ve done.    

I transformed the look of the bakers rack from this…

to this.  I tiled  the baker’s rack third shelf. 

An easy fix and what a difference it makes.  

I added a garden bench to our porch.  It was a gift from our Grandsons.

I just love the engraved verse.  By putting the bench on our porch we get to see it everyday. 

I made a water fountain using flower pots.  I can’t tell you how relaxing it is to hear the sound of water flowing.   I will be doing a blog post on how I made the water fountain.   

I love how the concrete floor turned out.  

I also added a stepping stone  that my grandsons’ made for me.   It was given to me before our third grandson was born.  I guess it’s time for another stepping stone with all three of their names on it.  Just a little something else to bring sunshine to my day thinking of those grandsons of mine.  

I can honestly  say I’m completely happy with the outcome of our screened-in porch and I wouldn’t change a thing. 

Hope you enjoyed our screened-in porch as much as we enjoy sitting out there. 

Gail

Today I’m Linking to:  Get Your Craft On @ Life as Lori and Strut Your Stuff Thursday @ Somewhat Simple.

Faux Tile Porch

On my list of many things to do was  tiling our screened-in porch.  I saw what Traci at Beneath My Heart  did to her patio, inspiring me to do the same to my screened-in porch.    She faux tiled her patio with stain. 

First off, let me apologize for not taking pictures of the process beforehand.  Unfortunately,  I was without a camera when my husband (Charlie) and I started this project.  My camera was left in Kentucky visiting our son who is stationed at Fort Campbell.  A few days after I completed this, I got a new camera….Nikon Cool Pix L110 and let me tell you something…..I LOVE THIS CAMERA! 

In the picture below, imagine if you will,  the cement floor with no furniture or rug on it. 

We used Quikrete products from Lowe’s.  I cleaned the concrete with Quikrete concrete cleaner.  

Charlie and I measured  the  porch from corner to corner to find the center.  Once we found our center, we drew a line every 12 inches until we had all our squares.  Because I couldn’t find half inch wide painters tape, I used half inch scotch tape.  Once I taped all my squares, I taped newspaper around the whole porch so that when I sprayed my stain it wouldn’t get on the siding or the porch rails. 

It took approximately  15 minutes to spray the whole porch.  I am so glad I decided on spraying versus rolling it. 

The next day, I rolled the sealer on  applying two coats within a four hour timeframe. 

Now I’m off to put it all back together.  I’ll be updating the look of my bakers rack and……….  

making a water feature for the screened- in porch. 

Thank you Traci for inspiring me. 

  I love the look my tile floor. 

Gail

P.S.  Today is Thursday and it’s  Strut Your Stuff Thursday at Somewhat Simple and  I’m also linking to Get Your Craft on at Life as Lori.